Qualcomm plan for in-flight Wi-Fi moves ahead

Federal regulators Thursday pushed forward a proposal from San Diego’s Qualcomm to use satellite spectrum to provide a ground-based, cellular Internet service to passengers on commercial jets.

The move could pit Qualcomm against another local company — Carlsbad satellite operator ViaSat — in the in-flight Wi-Fi business, although it probably will take years for the competition to heat up.

Both companies are aiming for what’s expected to be a fast-growing market of powering Internet access in aircraft that’s as fast as people are used to getting on their smartphones or home computers.

“Today’s airline passengers expect the same level of broadband service that is available on the ground,” said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a statement. “It appears, however, that current in-flight options carry higher prices but offer much lower speeds than terrestrial broadband.”

In 2011, Qualcomm asked the Federal Communications Commission to allow the shared use of the dedicated satellite spectrum — the airwaves that carry wireless signals — to establish a cellular air-to-ground mobile broadband service.

On Thursday, the commission voted 4-0 to advance the proposal, directing staff to write rules that would allow shared use of the spectrum without interference, and the auction of the spectrum as a secondary use.

“Satellite operations continue to be primary, meaning that the air-to-ground service is not allowed to interfere with the satellite service,” said Dean Brenner, Qualcomm’s senior vice president of government affairs. “This would be the first time that the FCC would be conducting an auction on that basis.”

Qualcomm proposes to take advantage of technical innovations in spectrum sharing — in this case in the 14 gigahertz band — for the service. The commission agreed with Qualcomm that more options for in-flight Wi-Fi would help meet the expected surge in travelers seeking to connect to the Internet aboard aircraft.

“This service would help meet consumer demand by offering airline passengers access to better in-flight broadband and will increase competitive pressure on current systems to improve the quality of their in-flight services,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who is to step down later this month.

Two types of technologies provide Wi-Fi Internet access to aircraft today. One is from the ground, which connects dedicated cellular towers to an antenna mounted on the bottom of the aircraft. The other uses satellites, which link to an antenna on the top of the aircraft.

Qualcomm wants to use 150 to 250 cellular base stations on the ground to serve aircraft over North America, allowing faster Internet speeds for passengers.

“You would have these cellular base stations providing what you could think of as a 4G-plus connection to the plane, and in the plane you would use Wi-Fi” to link devices, Brenner said.

The market for high-speed Internet access on flights is expected to grow substantially. A recent study predicted the number of aircraft offering broadband service will increase from about 3,000 last year to 15,000 by 2021, said Clyburn, the FCC commissioner.

Gogo Inc. is the dominant provider of in-flight Wi-Fi. Last year, 82 percent of Internet-enabled North American planes used Gogo, the company said in a filing with federal regulators.